Ever After
by reppad98
Summary: Team Rocket doesn't get happy endings. One-shot. KismesisShipping. Birthday present for Flaming Platinum.


**A/N:** Thank you for clicking on this story! This was written as a birthday present for Flaming Platinum. Horribly late, I know and I'm sorry, but I hope you like it anyway! :D

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover.**

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><p><strong>Ever After<strong>

_They aren't part of Team Rocket._

_If they were a part of Team Rocket, it would mean they were two different entities. It would mean that, if they wanted to, they could leave._

_But they can't leave._

_Because they aren't part of Team Rocket._

_Team Rocket is part of them._

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><p>He never joined Team Rocket.<p>

No, he had always been there. He was there as a mere toddler, watching his parents scurry around to fulfill the orders of their bosses. He was there as a kid, watching his parents ordering grunts around. He was there as a young boy, watching his parents die in the fire that set Team Rocket back to square one.

He was a promising young boy, with a mouth too big for someone so small. The grunts liked him, the executives despised him, and Giovanni kept a close eye on him.

He climbed ranks quickly. He was smart, confident and good with numbers. It caused the grunts to look up to him, the executives to acknowledge him as their equal, and Giovanni to become intrigued with him.

If it hadn't been for… _certain_ circumstances, he was sure he would've become a head executive.

But no, she came along and kicked him off his place as Giovanni's favorite, causing him to be stuck as a lower executive and forcing him to watch her suck up to the big boss.

Proton didn't give up easily.

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><p>It took a while before she first noticed him. Of course she had seen him before, she just had never <em>noticed<em> him.

But now that she finally had, it seemed that he was _everywhere_. She couldn't go anywhere without his dark, vengeful gaze following her, boring holes in the back of her head.

It didn't bother her much. She was used to being stared at with hate and disgust. Her mother had done it often enough, often accompanied by cursing and crying about what a horrible child she was.

Her father hit her, hoping to force her cruelty out by force. It didn't work, and most probably had had the opposite effect, as it affirmed her views that the ones with power abused it.

And she _liked_ it. She liked having power, she liked using – or abusing – it, and she liked hurting others to gain more.

Cutting off Rattata's tails while they were still alive and squeaking was only the beginning.

Power was the only important thing in life.

The reason for the boy's hate for her was obvious – because everyone who has less power will envy the ones that have more – and it made her smirk in anticipation.

Domino would show him.

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><p><em>But even as it falls apart, even as it rots away in its own dug grave, even as it's nothing more than dust collecting on the forgotten history books that has its name in it – they can't leave.<em>

_Because Team Rocket is part of them, undeniably connected to them. It binds them together, yet it's the only thing that keeps them apart._

_It is the only thing that prevents them from having their happy ending._

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><p>She set their rivalry in stone.<p>

She had embarrassed him in front of others, she had forced him to do her bidding, no matter how ridiculous the requests were, she had brought him down in battle, and overall, had humiliated him in any and every way possible.

When Giovanni had offered him a job in Johto, to help Archer set up a branch there, he had accepted with both hands.

She had seen it as defeat.

He had seen it as a temporary tactical retreat.

Proton bided his time.

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><p><em>They can't leave their rivalry behind, it's too deeply embedded in their persons to be able to abandon that. They try, oh yes, they try, but they just can't.<em>

_He must regain his position as Giovanni's favorite, for a reason he can't remember, while she must challenge him, challenge him for that spot she's not even sure why she wants it._

_And it doesn't stop when Team Rocket falls. They flee, hide in the deepest caves of Mount Coronet with grunts, executives and Giovanni, and watch how the organization devours itself._

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><p>When the Kanto branch fell and Giovanni disappeared, she came crawling back on her knees to him. Or to Archer, more precisely, but that didn't matter to him.<p>

She was broken, and he had won.

He was the boss, and she was his to command.

She was _his_. His subordinate, his rival, his nemesis. His and his alone.

The others knew that too. The only one who had dared challenge his claim on her had been Petrel. Petrel, lazy, bored, insufferable Petrel. He had followed her with his leering eyes, had walked after her with that slouching posture of his, talked to her with that_ horrible_ drawl…

She never did anything about it – couldn't do anything about it. She was his subordinate, after all. But just before her breaking-point, the attention stopped.

_He_ had taken care of it.

Petrel never bothered her again.

And for the first time, Domino felt a small spark of _something_.

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><p><em>He sees the numbers. He sees them decrease, sees the red ink and the minuses, and yet can't – <em>won't _– do anything as Giovanni sets up another doomed plan._

_She sees the people. She sees their numbers shrink, sees how people die during failed missions, but most of all, she sees them leave. She sees their disbelieving looks as they hear of the new 'master plan', sees them shake their head, but the only thing she does is silently watch as they sneak away._

_They do nothing but wait and watch._

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><p>He had failed horribly.<p>

The Slowpoke Well had been a disaster, and he had fallen out of Giovanni's favor, though he had somehow managed to keep his executive position.

_But not for long_. Domino smirked, throwing yet another scathing remark his way. He flinched, and didn't reply, for he couldn't deny his failure.

She enjoyed it _immensely_.

She loved the way his green eyes would darken, how his jaw would set, how he would square his shoulders and would continue walking whenever he tried to ignore her insults.

It was even better when he actually responded.

His whole stand would go rigid, trembling to keep his frustration in, teeth clenching and eyes narrowing – but he never lost his cool. He would try to return her insult with a witty comeback, or regard her with raised eyebrows and cool eyes, or mock her with short laughs.

And most of the times, he would then turn around and leave, admitting defeat.

But the best was when he won.

He would smirk and his eyes would shine in a certain way that infuriated her, but also made her feel important, because_ she _caused that. She made him smile like that, she gave his eyes that sparkle, she made him feel that way.

At times, it would happen that someone else made fun of him, or would mock him, or would join her in an argument. And she didn't want to have that – would _not_ have that. She was the only one who was allowed to make him feel like that.

So she would retaliate, insulting whoever it was, arguing and fighting until they left with their tails between their legs. Then she would grin proudly, throw one last insult at him, and leave.

Proton always watched her leave with a small smile on his face.

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><p><em>It's a guess, a dangerous guess, to willingly destroy the only thing that keeps them together, in the hope that it will stop keeping them apart.<em>

_They don't do anything, because they can't leave Team Rocket, but perhaps, Team Rocket can leave them._

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><p>He never lost his cool. No matter how much she taunted him, insulted him, humiliated him, he never lost his cool. In fact, at times, he didn't even mind her tattering on and on about his failures, because, in some way, it was almost habit and strangely comforting.<p>

Very strangely.

But today he lost his cool. Looking back on it, he wasn't even sure why he had been so on the edge. She had been getting in her daily amount of pestering when something just snapped.

He wasn't a failure, _dammit!_

So he had turned around, fully intent on telling her the truth once and for all, but somewhere along the way he got distracted and he had ended up kissing her.

He had turned bright red, told her how she should leave him alone, and then left.

It hadn't been her first kiss. Or her best kiss.

It had been, however, the first time that Domino had wanted a second one.

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><p><em>It can't.<em>

_But yet they keep trying, destroying the only thing that keeps them together in the hope it will stop keeping them apart. _

_Desperate, they try to get their happy ending._

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><p>For a while, they were happy. They continued this routine for however long, they didn't know, too lost in each other to really notice the passing of the days. They argued and kissed and fought and made up, they pushed and pulled and clung together and detached again, and most of all, they fell.<p>

They fell and tumbled, deeper and deeper, further and further, until neither of them knew the way out anymore.

They didn't even want to know.

And then everything blew up in their faces.

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><p><em>They end in a flash.<em>

_Bright, white-hot and deafening, the explosion tears apart the last base of Team Rocket, and takes them with it._

_Because in the end, they were Team Rocket._

_And Team Rocket doesn't get happy endings._

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading! I hope it was somewhat enjoyable, despite it being rather angsty and dark. It was a bit of an experiment haha, but I liked doing it. I don't know all that much about Team Rocket, and I usually write light-hearted stories, but I kinda like how it came out. It was fun writing it.

Anyway, Flame, I hope you liked your superlate birthday present :)

Please review, and thank you!


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